Black Bloodstains:
Chapter 5: She Loves You

And so, once again I woke up in the same room as before. Same clothes, same hair, same curtains, and the same body. I crawled out of the bedsheets, my hair covering the left side of my face, and stumbled across the room, but the curiosity inside of me burned with passion. I took a look at the girl in the mirror, the same face that had greeted me the night before. But, instead of fearful eyes, for the first time, I saw in myself some form of determination. Since I was turned into whatever creature I am now, for the first time I felt that I needed to take a hold of the wheel, and try to make my own path. 

Opening the large wardrobe, I picked up the first coat at my disposal. Quickly putting it on, I took a final glimpse at the mirror and tossed the hair out of the girl’s face. While simple, the coat looked expensive, black with white wool around the neck. However, that didn’t matter. I wanted to know, I needed to grasp this situation. Ignoring the coldness of my feet, I opened the door of this room and went back outside into the hallway that had greeted me before. Something was calling me, a sensation deep in my soul which I needed to answer. My bare feet echoed against the marble floors; the moon, which shone across the hallway, illuminated my path. The decorations all seemed meaningless, but the portraits seemed to be staring at me as if they too were awaiting this moment. 

I could hear a faint laugh in the distance, someone awake that could answer my questions. I began to pick up the pace, making my legs move faster. My hands pressed tightly to form fists, as my hair followed the rhythm of my steps, bouncing up and down with me. My heart began to beat louder, to the point that it was the only thing I could hear. Going down the stairs, I spotted the room where the laughs came from. The door was closed, but I could see a simple frame of light pushing from underneath it. The walk to get there seemed endless, the hallway even expanding on its own as if there were something trying to stop me. 

But instead of giving up, I began to run. Ignoring whatever was around me to get to my goal. The portraits seemed to change, the eyes becoming something different. A single slit, watching me, judging me. Fear began to rise up my spine; I could feel the cold sensation churning against my blood. But I couldn’t stop here, I must not stop here. My life seemed empty up to this point; something inside of me felt as if this is the first step to my actual life. This was just an illusion, my whole life had been. “Geoffrey Scott...” I whispered, closing my eyes and bashing against my fear. I could feel the glances of the eyes becoming stronger, staring at me and trying to stop me. But I had to continue.

I opened my eyes, and in a second these clouds seem to finally go away, the eyes and the darkness disappearing and leaving the hallway. I spotted the door, which was now right in front of me. I looked down at my hand and made my thin fingers bend and move. My ringing ears stopped completely, now focusing on the sound beyond the door. I placed my hand over my heart, feeling it beat against it. “I can do this…” I said, trying to calm down. My fingers grasped at the knob, the silver metal making my skin tremble. It was now, the moment where I finally understood this situation and tried to get my life back. 

Without me exerting any force, the door opened in front of me, almost making me trip. On the other side, the man I’d seen yesterday stood there, staring back with surprise and fear in his eyes. “Oh… Eliza… I mean Geoff,” he stammered, forcing out my real name as he scratched the back of his head. Standing a few inches taller than me, the man could easily have any woman at his disposal. Jealousy was the feeling I got when I looked at him, handsome but with maturity within him. “I was about to check on you… Come in, please,” he said, his mouth working against him to speak as he took a step aside to let me inside. 

It seemed to be a cozy recreational room, with a billiard table at one end, high-end sofas arranged around a fireplace, and several shelves filled with books without a single space in between them. I could see the woman from yesterday standing up from her seat, dropping a book to the floor as her eyes opened widely at me. Looking at her was like looking in a mirror; the woman was a reflection of this body, but with a lot of knowledge and wisdom to differentiate it. As I took another step, a pair of men who looked like brothers appeared, playing at the billiard table, one of them being the scientist I’d seen at the tower. 

The other seemed older, but with experience and a look of maturity in his gaze. Wearing a military uniform, with a couple of badges and medals attached to the side, he looked sternly at me, but with a feeling of care behind it. Like the rest, he had the same black hair and red eyes; the only one missing this trait being the scientist, as he had more of a light purple eye instead. The last figure emerged from the shadows, wearing a simple suit without the jacket, looking like the first man, but with the difference being a stubbly beard and greying hair. His frame was intimidating and muscular, but his smile eased my nerves as I walked further inside the room. 

“Who am I?” I said, turning around to look at the main figure behind me. “And could I know who all of you are?” My voice felt like mine, for the first time in this new life. I could speak knowing I had control of this body, and I had to understand myself and this new world. The man gestured for me to sit on a nearby couch, but I shook my head and stood firmly. “Please. I need to know,” I told him, making him smile and walk towards his own seat. Never breaking eye contact with me, he took a sip of his beverage before answering me. 

“You, Geoffrey Scott, are a member of the Tenebris lineage,” he said, adjusting his legs, while the other members looked towards him. “Years ago, you were kidnapped from our hands. Even before you could speak your first words or stand on your own. While the kidnapper has been captured and properly sentenced, you have deemed a mystery to everyone, as we didn’t know anything about your whereabouts. It seemed that the kidnapper had hidden you, changing your gender and placing you in the hands of a human family.” Smiling, his eyes seemed to burn with passion as his finger pointed at me. “You, you are in fact my daughter Elizabeth.” 

I wanted to speak, but my lips seemed to be glued to each other, preventing me from saying anything. The woman apparently guessed my confusion, as she approached me and helped me to sit down on the nearby couch. “My name is Marianne,” she said. Her voice was gentle and sweet; she began to rub my head as I turned my gaze towards her. “Vincent is your father's name. Zachary and Raphael are your brothers, and last is your uncle, George.” The man wearing a coat waved at me, adjusting his hat and standing up. 

“While I love reunions, I don't feel this is the place for me to be at the moment.” He began to walk towards the door, giving me one last look. “Family, I'll see you tomorrow.” They all muttered a response as he closed the door behind him. There was such a level of silence that I could hear his steps through the hallway. The sound of the burning wood cracking made me jump as I hid my face in my hands. I began to tremble; I was so scared that tears began to pour out of my eyes. I noticed how my hands began to let out the weird black aura, almost as if it were a part of me. 

“Look, Geoff,” Vincent said, walking and sitting beside me. “We understand that this is a lot for you to get used to. All your life you've been fixated to one reality being true. For long our reality of you being gone was the only one we knew about. For years we have looked for you, sending knights and special forces in order to find you.” He stopped for a moment, regaining his thoughts. Suddenly I felt him hug me by the neck, the woman following up and hugging me as well. 

I could feel my heart thumping as if it wanted to come out my chest. The shadows around me seemed to gain strength, waving and crashing against each other. I didn't recall the last time I’d been hugged or loved even. My mother was only there to take advantage of the child services money. My dad left soon after I was conceived; I never met him in real life. But this was a whole different sensation; for the first time I felt the embrace of a caring mother, I could even feel her true feelings of passion and love. I was crying, and my body acted on its own as I jumped into my mother's arms and poured my tears on her. 

To be continued...